Register for our Members Area and get audio for Hiragana - The Japanese Alphabet. It's FREE! The first step to learning the Japanese language is to learn the alphabet. Or, at least, to learn the sounds that exist in the language. There are absolutely no "tones" in Japanese like in many other asian languages and there are only 2 exceptions within the alphabet which will be explained later. There are 5 vowels in Japanese. Here is a Printable Hiragana Chart (PDF - get Adobe Acrobat Reader). Exceptions: 1. Click here if you'd like to know why these two exceptions exist. Note: You probably noticed in the chart above that there are 2 characters pronounced "zu" and 2 characters pronounced "ji". Some people wonder why "yi", "ye", "wi", "wu", and "we" are missing. For more help on the subject of Kana (Hiragana and Katakana)...
Free Japanese Lessons - Hiragana - The Japanese Alphabet (Hiragana Chart) - Learn to speak the Japanese language online for free!

Suitable for the very first step of learning the Japanese language. Goal This course will assist you to gain the following abilities; Also, more than 500 commonly used words and phrases are introduced through the course. Structure The course consists of 10 lessons. Lesson Contents Each lesson consists of three sections - Reading, Writing and Typing. Reading Correct shape and sound are introduced through video contents.

Full of voice recordings narrated by Japanese voice actors. Writing Detailed handwriting instructions. Specially developed original font is used to show the standard shape of letters. Printable writing practice sheets (PDF) are provided. Typing Detailed instructions on how to input Hiragana letters on personal computers. Printable keystrokes chart (PDF) is provided. Different styles of commonly used fonts are introduced. Quiz Click the thumbnail to watch sample videos. How to Study Preparation. Hiragana. Hiragana (平仮名, ひらがな?)

Is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and in some cases rōmaji (the Latin-script alphabet). Hiragana is used to write native words for which there are no kanji, including grammatical particles such as から kara "from", and suffixes such as さん ~san "Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms.
" Likewise, hiragana is used to write words whose kanji form is obscure, not known to the writer or readers, or too formal for the writing purpose. There is also some flexibility for words that have common kanji renditions to be optionally written instead in hiragana, according to an individual author's preference. Verb and adjective inflections, as, for example, be-ma-shi-ta (べました) in tabemashita (食べました? There are two main systems of ordering hiragana, the old-fashioned iroha ordering, and the more prevalent gojūon ordering.

Writing system[edit] The modern hiragana syllabary consists of 46 characters: Table of hiragana[edit] History[edit]
Hiragana — Real Kana. How to use KANJI 4 U - How do you use Japanese KANJI 4 your life.